Colorful Darkness
by Stryker83
Summary: Sakura has an older cousin. He's an exceptional shinobi, but he has a few issues. When he returns from a long mission, how will Konoha accept him? And why are they giving him the same looks they give Naruto? NaruHina, SasuSaku, TentenOC
1. A Violent Return

Disclaimer: Well, everyone else writes them, so I guess I should as well. The only thing I own in the story is the Original character. Other than that I don't own a damn thing, let alone Naruto.

Note: I am only sure about one of my pairings right now. Tenten and my OC. I'm considering NaruSaku, NaruHina, and SasuSaku. The first will cancel out the other two. Give me your opinions.

Colorful Darkness

Fuuma

A lone figure flew through the dense tree tops of fire country, arms swept back, feet occasionally touch a branch to propel itself forward. The trees streamed past in a blur showing the incredible speed at which the figured traveled, despite the seeming ease of motion and sense relaxation. Not too far behind a series of shifting shadows, unnatural in the twilight, attested to the reality of vigorous pursuit.

The figure shook his head, a soft chuckle coming from between well formed lips. A single hand seal was formed, words were whispered, "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu,"_ and one male body suddenly became four. The three clones and the original took off in completely separate directions. **I should just turn around and kill them** came the thought of his inner voice, followed quickly by the voice of his more rational side, no, I'm almost home. As long as they don't get any closer, I can let the ANBU deal with them.

There was a rustle to either side of him, and his head jerked up in surprise as he felt his three clones disperse after being attacked. He shifted his next step to slow down and dropped to the ground, sighing softly. "You might as well come out. Come on, let's get this over with. I want to get home before it gets too dark." Soundlessly, he was surrounded, as unidentified shinobi faded into the dying light. There was at least a score of them, and they bore a variety of weapons, running the gamut from the basic kunai and shuriken to more exotic chains and katars.

One of the unidentifiable ninjas snarled, "Did you think you would get away? No one betrays us and lives." With that said, a dam seemed to break loose in the group as they surged forward, intent on overwhelming him by sheer numbers. Their efforts were less than successful, however, as they were met with coldly efficient brutality.

"First of all," he said calmly, running one gloved hand over the black bandanna that covered his entire head, his tone more suitable for a peaceful dinner, or perhaps a philosophical discussion, rather than a life and death situation, "I was never loyal to you in the first place, so I can't betray you." With a flick of his wrists, two fuuma shurikens appeared in his hands. With practiced ease, he spun them so that the four large curved blades on each locked into place. Spinning, he snapped his arms out to either side of him, releasing the weapons into the faces of the two closest adversaries.

Instead of stopping, the spinning blades sheared through the necks of the two enemy nins, the attack catching them off guard. Ten feet out, the massive shurikens stopped, invisible guide wires allowing him to control the movements as the blades hummed softly, spinning a razor edged dance of death around him. The remaining enemy shinobi were understandably hesitant to approach within his range after watching the bodies of their comrades slump to the ground in fountains of their own blood.

"Secondly," he continued, as if nothing had happened, his body spinning with careful control to keep the wires from tangling, "if you wanted to stop me, you should have brought a hell of a lot more of your friends with you." Chuckling mirthlessly, he watched the group fill their hands with shuriken and kunai, obviously planning to try him from a distance. Twitching two fingers on each hand, he drew the fuuma shurikens back to him, his arms crossing over his chest to absorb the force of the impact of the fast spinning weapons.

I guess it can't be helped. ANBU might have let some of them escape with their lives, or taken some captives. I'm not going to was my time. **"And finally,"** he said softly, his voice changing slightly in depth and tone as it mirrored his inner voice, killing intent suddenly radiating off of him, "**you can't kill me. In fact, none of you are going to leave here alive."** Even before he finished his sentence the air was filled with steel, the unknown shinobi launching a literal storm of razor edged steel in his direction. Jumping straight up, he inverted his body, feet pointed to the sky as he went into a spin, launching the massive shurikens from his hands. A series of quick seals were formed, "_Taiju Fuuma Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu,"_ his voice rang across the clearing, the necessity of quiet long since passed. Instantly, in the place of two, there were literally hundreds of fuuma shurikens ripping through the air. They screamed through the air, knocking most of the enemy projectiles out of the way. Most ended up in trees, slashing deep before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Still, many struck the intended targets, embedding into bodies, or in some case slashing right through, drawing bright streamers of blood into the lingering twilight.

Flipping back over and landing, he suddenly felt something caress the top of his head. Reaching up, he felt were a shuriken had cut through his bandanna without cutting into his head. He grunted in annoyance, then turned to find one lone ninja standing, arm still extended from the throw, eyes wide in fear and shock from watching his comrades being butchered with one jutsu. "What did you do, hide behind a tree?" he asked, taking a slow step towards his final adversary, "Do you realize how hard it is to find good bandanas that can cover all of my hair?" he pointed up to the cut in the bandana, which had spread to reveal shocking pink hair. He didn't wait for an answer.

He seemed to disappear, moving too fast for the enemy nin's eyes to follow. As he charged, he reached behind his back, drawing the long Boken that he kept there. "_kagegiri,"_ came the whisper on the wind, before he reappeared behind him, replacing the boken in it's holder. The enemy shinobi was dead before he knew it, half his torso severed in one cut from the wooden sword.

He looked around the clearing, his ice blue eyes scanning coldly. "What a mess," he whispered, sighing softly, "Konoha jounin aren't so easy to kill, even those of us who haven't been home in years." There was blood everywhere, his storm of giant shurikens painting the forest red with the viscous liquid. The clone shurikens had already disappeared, their purpose served, and the two originals cut a path deep into the forest. He shrugged, then walked away, heading in the direction he had been traveling before this unpleasant encounter occurred.

As he walked, he reached into his pocket, drawing out a Konoha leaf forehead protector. He bounced it in his palm a few times, then held it up to his forehead. Tying it in place, he smiled contentedly, for what felt like the first time in years. He was actually humming to himself when the massive gates of Hidden Village of the Leaf came into view.

He stood in front of the gates, looking at the two ANBU guards that stood waiting, knowing that there where two more in hiding nearby. He smiled at the expressionless animal masks, and simply walked straight up to them.

"Are you responsible for the massive chakra surge we felt a little while ago?" this question was addressed to him by the ANBU on his right, wearing the mask of a hawk. Another squad of four animal masked shinobi dropped to the ground behind him. They had been following him since just after he left the scene of the battle, though they didn't approach.

"That would be me. 20 enemy nin dead, no casualties to be reported, except my bandana," he said, his voice empty, stating facts, though there was a hint of mischief in his eyes. His comment drew their attention to the top of his head, and it gratified him to see their startled reactions at his hair color. One didn't surprise Konoha ANBU very often.

"State your name and business. You wear the clothing and symbol of Konoha, but I don't recognize you.

He smiled, his posture relaxed and open, "My name is Haruno Daisuke. My rank is Jounin. And I'm returning home."

Afternote: Read and Review please. If you see something I did wrong, please tell me. If you flame me, that's all good, I'm wearing fire proof underwear, so the important stuff is safe.


	2. An Interesting Reunion

Disclaimer: Once Again, I don't own Naruto. Only Daisuke.

Responese to reviews:

Manatheron: I was already planning on keeping him manageable. I am not sure exactly who to compare him too. He doesn't have a Kekkai Genkai, and he will be fighting those who do. His strength with probably be around the level of all the sensei's, like Kakashi and Gai, but more general than Gai. Somewhere around Neji, with an experience edge. I duuno, just have to wait and see.

Colorful Darkness

Fuuma

Chapter 2

An Interesting Reunion

Daisuke looked at himself in the mirror, his empty blue gaze reflected back at him. He was fine featured, though a little drawn from years of being constantly under pressure for missions. His face reflected no emotion, and even when he tried to smile it looked out of place. He shook his head ruefully, his shock pink hair dropping into his eyes.

He was the exception to the rule, more often than not. As a male Haruno, he should have been born with a normal hair color, probably blond. Never, in the entire history of their family, had anyone who wasn't female been born with hair the color of sakura blossoms. He had been the first, and it had caused trouble for him since he was little. Around the age of 6, his parents had allowed him to start wearing a bandana wherever he went, only making him take it off at home.

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft tapping on the door of his room. He had checked into a hotel set up specifically for visiting Jounin and those returning from mission who didn't want to barge in on their families in the middle of the night. It was affordable, clean, quiet, and he really had nowhere better to stay. All reasons for him to take advantage of the arrangement until he could find something more permanent.

The young Jounin walked out of the bathroom, not even bothering to throw the black sleeveless t-shirt he had been wearing to sleep back on. He never slept in anything less than a pair of loose fitting pants and a t-shirt, simply in case he had to be ready quickly, or he was attacked suddenly. It was a policy he kept religiously, ever since he was a child.

Another tap on the door came, this one slightly louder, giving hint of growing impatience in the person outside of the door. Just before he opened the door, he snagged a single shuriken from the bedside table, cradling it in his palm, the tip of his index finger laced through the hole in the center of it. If it was somehow an enemy outside his door, though it was extremely unlikely, he could slit their throat faster than the blink of an eye. Old habits die a very hard death.

His empty hand flickered in front of the door, disarming several wire traps attached to explosive seals that would blow outward if anyone tried to force their way in. Placing his hand on the doorknob, he listened carefully, and then pulled the door open quickly. He had timed it just right, by listening to the shifting sound of the persons clothing, to open it just before their hand hit the door to knock for a third time, leaving the black robed, monkey masked ANBU standing in front of him looking like an idiot with her hand raised.

Daisuke knew she was, in fact, a woman. The way the robe fell, the slight frame, and, one thing overriding everything else, the faintest hint of perfume he caught as he drew a deep breath through his nose. "Yes?" he asked softly, his voice barely above a whisper. What most people would call a bedroom voice, except for the absolute emptiness of his tone. He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the doorframe as he waited for the kunoichi in front of him to recover from his little trick.

The ANBU was silent for quite a while. First, she was embarrassed, and put into an awkward position, then she was confronted with the sight of an extremely fit, half naked shinobi standing in front of her with bed hair. Not to mention that his hair was such an unusual color. For what seemed like an eternity, at least to her, she couldn't say anything, she just stared, her eyes roving over his chest and arms. She was finally able to tear her gaze away and compose herself when she looked at his abdomen. The otherwise pale perfection of his skin was marred by the sight of a long jagged scar that ran from his left side almost to his belly button, and by a random series of scars, easily identified as stab wounds caused by kunai and other bladed weapons, on his lower chest and upper stomach.

Daisuke watched as she composed herself, half annoyed and half amused at her reaction to his hair and the scars. He gave her a bored look when her eyes finally came up to meet his. There was an almost visible squaring of shoulders as she faced him, as if she was reminding herself, I'm an ANBU, an elite. "Jounin Haruno Daisuke?" came the question.

"That would be me."

"The Hokage requests," she said the word requests in such a way that he was certain that refusal wasn't an option, "your presence at 1100 hours today for a debriefing on your completed assigned mission."

He looked back over his shoulder, towards the clock on the wall. it was already 9:30 am, or 0930, so he had an hour and a half to get ready and make it to the Hokage tower. He nodded, more to himself than to the monkey face woman, "Message received. I will be at the Hokage's office at 1100 hours. Thanks," he turned, hand on the door, then looked back over his shoulder, "It's not polite to stare." He closed the door to the sound of a spluttering ANBU.

(For the sake of the story, I am gonna jump ahead a bit. The next few paragraphs are filler, in order to get to the point where he meets with Naruto and the others. I just don't like leaving gaps)

The debriefing and conversation that followed hadn't lasted long. In fact, for some reason, the Godaime, Tsunade, had left in quite a hurry after one of her aids came in with a message scroll. Before leaving, as if sensing his curiousity, she had turned back to him, gifting him with one of her rare, genuine smiles. "Gomen," she said, subdued amusement tingeing her voice, "I am needed elsewhere at the moment. Two important baka have returned to the Leaf. It seems today is a day of momentous returns. I'll read your report in more detail, and we can meet again later in case of questions. You are officially on leave. Get some rest, refamiliarize yourself with Konoha." With that, she disappeared down the hall. He blinked, then looked at Shizune, who simply smiled and shook her head.

That was yesterday. He had spent the rest of the day taking care of some business. First, he stopped at the weapons smith to order some specific weapons that he used, then headed to the bank to check what kind of money he had accumulated during his time away. After that and a meal, he had returned to his room and slept for the rest of the day and the night, letting his body simply shut down, since he had nothing else to do.

He had awoken this morning feeling better than he had in years, completely refreshed. His sleep had been thankfully dreamless, a rare occurrence, and a blessed one. He opened his door to find the clothing he sent out to be washed folded neatly inside of a box. He showered, did a morning routine of exercises designed to loosen him up an keep him strong, even when he wasn't on missions. After that he dressed, donned his jounin flak jacket and the gear that he personally carried, namely his metal backed gloves, forearm protectors, weapon, and most specifically the special boken that he carried everywhere. Finally, he tied his bandana on, covering all of his hair, then his forehead protector. After that, he left to do exactly what the Hokage had suggested.

He went sightseeing.

There was no better way to put it. He had been gone for four years, four momentous years in the history of Konoha. He had missed a war, the near destruction of this place he called home. Everywhere he looked, despite the villagers best intentions, he could see the after effects. A patched wall here, new coats of paint there. A new building where an old one used to be. Still, most of what he remembered was still in evidence. The easy mixture of shinobi and normal villagers, something he hadn't seen in any of the other Hidden Villages he had visited. The Jounin Bar, the Tea House, and, of course, the Ichiraku Ramen stand. The friendly greetings called across the streets between friends. Happily, no one recognized him.

He stopped at a vendors stand in the market and purchased three bottles of water, sliding two into his cargo pocket for later and opening up the third. He sipped the water as he walked, not paying attention to where he was going really, letting his senses protect him from collision and his feet take him where they will. He wasn't even sure where he was at first, when his attention was drawn by a name he knew said in a stage whisper, meant to be overheard.

"Right, it'll be Kakashi-sensei's treat,"

"ALRIGHT! SENSEI!"

Daisuke looked down the street, and spotted the copy ninja about half a block away. He completely missed what was said next, however, when he spotted Kakashi's companions. The blonde boy was nothing special, until you looked more closely. He was pretty tall for his age, taller than the girl, though still a little shorter than Kakashi. His clothing wasn't exactly colors that would normally blend in with the surroundings, but at least it was slightly subdued blue and orange. What one would notice most though was the bright blonde hair, flashy blue eyes, and whisker marks on his cheeks. Wait a minute, whisker marks? he wondered, looking again, and sure enough, there they were, Uzumaki Naruto, huh? He easily identified him now.

Everything was forgotten for a moment as he looked at the blonde boy's female companion. Only one person he knew of, at least at that age, had that hair color. It was exactly the same as his own. Sakura, came the amused thought, as he studied her for an instant. She had changed a lot in 4 years, he was pleased to note. She looked stronger, and more self confidant, and she cut her hair, thank kami. As soon as she had developed a crush on some kid from her Academy class she had grown it out to please him, and then had spent way too much time trying to make herself pretty. It created a small rift between them, because he didn't like how it was effecting her, and he didn't hesitate to tell her so. It took away from her studies as a kunoichi, mainly her taijutsu, which she had practiced with him.

"Hehe..So, the two of us are on our own now, is it a da-," Naruto started

"OK, but it's your treat," was the quick reply.

"Actually," said Daisuke, appearing behind Sakura suddenly, his hand reaching up behind his head to undo the knot on his bandana, pulling it off, letting his own spiky pink hair become visible, "it's my treat."

Sakura spun, and Daisuke could sense the chakra charged into her right fist as she cocked it at her side, ready for an attack, before she stopped and stared at him in shock, taking in first his face, then his hair, almost the exact same color as her own. He wasn't even looking at Naruto, but he still noticed the sudden feral, protective expression that crossed his face.

"D-Daisuke-nii-san?"

Daisuke nodded, a grin splitting his face, before he winced at the loud and more than a little irritating sound of Naruto's voice at max volume.

"Dude, what the fuck is up with your hair?"

(Yes, I realize some of the lines come right out of the Manga. They will probably be the only ones that do. I like having a little continuity between my story and the canon story, a point where my character meshes in, then everything changes. Don't worry, action is coming.)

Afternote: Read and Review please. If you see something I did wrong, please tell me. If you flame me, that's all good, I'm wearing fire proof underwear, so the important stuff is safe.


	3. Rough Introduction

Disclaimer: Well, everyone else writes them, so I guess I should as well. The only thing I own in the story is the Original character. Other than that I don't own a damn thing, let alone Naruto.

Authors note: I feel that I have to apologize to everyone. I have actually had this chapter, not including a few minor revisions, since before I deployed to Louisiana in September. I was planning on making it even longer, but I just couldn't get things to flow properly in order for the next part to mesh into this chapter. It just means that I'll have at least one more chapter than planned. Oh well, such is life.

Colorful Darkness

Fuuma

_blah Daisuke's inner voice_

**blah Sakura's inner voice**

Blah Normal Thoughts of a person

**#Blah# Kyuubi speech**

Chapter 3

A Rough Introduction

_I should kill him and paint the nearest wall red with his blood_

**That idiot, why the hell couldn't he leave something so obvious alone?**

Sakura couldn't believe it. She was literally in shock as she watched the color of Daisuke's eyes shift from their normal ice blue to a grey the color storm clouds. Since they were little, she knew that, no matter how empty the rest of his face was, when his eyes changed color from their normal shade of blue to grey, he was upset. It still kind of scared her, even when it wasn't directed at her. She knew Naruto had about as much tact as a rock to the forehead, but still, he could keep his mouth shut just once in his life.

Well, if he wasn't going to keep his mouth shut, she would do it for him. Inner Sakura simply rubbed her hands together, a grin of vindictive glee crossing her features.

Sakura whirled, in time to see Daisuke, bandana already back in place, standing behind Naruto. She was sure she wouldn't be fast enough to beat Daisuke to the punch, but she tried anyway. Even as she swung, her hand charged with chakra to release on impact, she watched as Daisuke's hand came up and smacked into the side of Naruto's head, hard enough to send him careening to side. Careening to the side, that is, if Sakura's hand didn't meet it on the way. Chakra was released at the moment of contact, and Naruto was sent flying into the nearest wall, causing bricks and old mortar to chip beneath the impact.

Naruto felt like his head was a pinball, or maybe a tennis ball, he couldn't decide. After the unexpected double assault, he really couldn't quite think clearly, his brain like a martini that had been shaken a little too much. As he pulled himself off the wall, shaking his head a few times, he was subjected to a random comment from his live in peanut gallery, otherwise known as the Kyuubi no Youko. **#Kill him, Kill the one who struck you, brat# **Shut up, he thought back absently. In the last couple of years, the Kyuubi had become increasingly vocal in its homicidal suggestions. It was a serious pain in the ass, having to share your head with a complete psychopath, he thought as he brushed bits of plaster and the wall off of himself. Finally satisfied, he looked up from his clothes to his teammate, cocking his head to the side as he watched her almost crush the mysterious jounin that she called brother in a hug, "Oi, Sakura-chan, I thought you were an only child? Who is this guy?"

At that moment, Sakura was too breathless with laughter to answer him, so Daisuke did it for her, even as he tossed her up into the air, like he had when they were younger and she weighed less. "I'm Haruno Daisuke, kid, and you're right, Sakura is an only child. I'm her cousin," he set her down on the ground before he finished, "Her older, smarter, stronger, and faster cousin."

"HEY," came the expected shriek. Though the punch came at him a little faster than he expected, he still caught her wrist easily, having seen what could happen when she connected fully. He was still a little surprised when she refocused the chakra into her wrist and released it, forcing him to let go.

"Nice," came the appreciative response to her counter. Daisuke flexed his fingers, tightening them into a fist until the tingling went away, "Who taught you that? I didn't think Kakashi knew any techniques like that, though Kami only knows what he picks up with that eye of his."

Sakura grin cheekily, but it was Naruto who answered for her, "Sakura is Tsunade-Obaa-Chan's student." This statement earned him a smack on the back of the head from Sakura.

"Don't call her that, Naruto-Baka. Show some respect." she snarled at him as he grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Obaa-chan is Obaa-chan. She was before she became Hokage, so why should I call her anything else?"

Rubbing a spot between his eyes, the sure sign of an oncoming headache, Daisuke listened to them banter for a few minutes, every couple sentences from Naruto being punctuated by a slap from Sakura. He swore, this was like a brother and sister relationship, with Sakura taking the role of older sister every time she corrected him. It was actually kind of cute, watching these two interact. At any given time, one of them would take a role like that of an older sibling, Naruto protective, Sakura corrective.

Finally, he cleared his throat, getting there attention, "As entertaining as this scintillating conversation is," he winced as Sakura slapped Naruto again when he tried to interrupt. What was that, eight times in less than five minutes? He continued, "I said I was buying lunch, so let's go. I'm guessing from your conversation earlier that you were planning on going to Ichiraku. You can fill me in on some of the details of the last four years while we eat, especially about your team, missions, and teachers." He turned and started moving down the street, motioning them to follow.

He remembered something then, and pulled the two full bottles of water from his cargo pocket, tossing them back over his shoulder to them, "I expect them to be gone by the time we get to Ichiraku."

"What is this? Water?" this came from Naruto, as he gazed skeptically at the bottle in his hand.

"Exactly. You two are slightly dehydrated, the result of an extremely high activity level over a long period of time. Neither of you are in danger, but a shinobi doesn't operate at peak efficiency if they don't take care of themselves."

"How do you know that?" now this question came from Sakura, even as she took her first drink.

He looked back over his shoulder, giving her a lazy look that said, "Why did you ask me that question? You've known me for how long?" His only spoken reply was, "Sakura, if Tsunade trained you, then you're a medic nin, correct? You tell me how I can tell."

Sakura's brow furrowed as she pulled the information from her memory, like she would for a written test, "Change in skin tone, change in eye focus, slight discoloration around the eyes, a lack of sweat despite the heat…." Her voice trailed off when she finally realized just how stupid that question was when put to an experience shinobi, especially coming from a medic nin.

He nodded, smiling, the picture of a proud older brother, "Exactly. You always did learn well. Now drink. I'm not buying anything until those bottles are gone."

As they walked, Sakura quickly moved up to walk beside him, "Umm, Daisuke-nii-san?"

He looked at her, curious as to what had her concerned, "What's up?"

"Naruto really likes Ramen. It's almost an obsession with him. You do have a lot of money with you, right?"

He laughed softly, "Sakura, I've been gone four years, and I haven't spent any of the money that has been piling up in my bank account."

She smiled in relief, "Thank goodness. Naruto tends to go a little overboard when it comes to ramen."

"I think I can handle it."

"Sweet kami, remind me not to buy him ramen very often. If I did this on a regular basis, I'd go broke real quick."

Sakura giggled, then laughed outright as Naruto finished his tenth bowl of ramen in less than an hour, finally pushing the bowl away without calling out for another, "I did warn you Nii-san. Iruka-sensei regularly blows whole paychecks on ramen with Naruto."

"No Shit."

They had spent the last hour talking while they ate. Well, Sakura telling Daisuke about Team 7 and everything else that had happened in the last few years, from their graduation from the academy to the present. He could see how it hurt her to talk about Sasuke, and how Naruto would grow unusually quiet during those times. There was a lot of pain in that subject, but in Sakura's voice he could also sense just the slightest hint of something else.

They each sat there nursing their thoughts, and their respective drinks. Even Naruto was quiet as they each dwelt on the past, until Sakura suddenly perked up, spotting someone behind Daisuke, who had his back to the main counter. Old man Ichiraku had added a few tables in the intervening years as his business expanded to allow people to sit and relax while they ate. Sakura suddenly started to wave spastically, gesturing wildly for someone to come join them.

Naruto looked up as Daisuke leaned back in his seat, turning to looked boredly over his shoulder.

They both took a moment to study the group of six that stood up at the counter. Naruto quickly recognized them, since he had spent some time fighting along side of both Gai and Kurenai's teams. He raised his hand to wave them over as well, grinning at the surprised looks that came onto faces that he hadn't seen in over two years.

Daisuke could feel people moving up behind him, so, without looking, he hooked one long leg out, dragging the nearest table closer. "You can handle your own seating arrangement," he said, settling back into his seat and leaning back into his chair. He watched through his peripheral vision as the six figures dragged up chairs and took seats. One Jounin, five Chuunin. Two Hyuuga, an Inuzuka with a big fricking dog, and an Aburame. He though, immediately assessing the situation, identifying them by their clothing and telling features, I don't recognize the other two, though the girl looks kind of familiar, and the guy looks like a carbon copy of Gai, eyebrows and all.

"Hey, can you guess who this is," Sakura said in greeting, punching Naruto in the arm to show which person she was talking about. It took each person a moment, but when they all realized who it was, the reactions were all positive, but a little mixed.

"Welcome back, Naruto. We will have to spar soon, and show the power of our youth," Lee said, drowning out everyone else as he jumped to his feet, striking his good guy pose, arm extended, thumb up. Incidently, his rapid movement sent his chair flying backwards as the back of his legs struck it, and he spent the next minute retrieving it and trying to get the now twisted legs to stand straight as everyone else looked on in amusement.

The amusement generated into pleasant conversation, with each person sharing what they had done since the last time they all met. Daisuke paid no attention to the conversation, his head back as he looked up into the sky, remaining silent. He did watch each person out of the corner of his eye, judging and measuring, trying to feel out how the group dynamic applied here.

Naruto was as animated as even, hands waving as he illustrated a point. In contrast, the purple haired Hyuuga girl across from him, Hinata, as the others addressed her, or Hinata-sama, as the one called Neji addressed her, was unusually quiet. What he did notice, and it almost had him grinning like the Mad Hatter, was that Hinata only rarely took her eyes off Naruto, and Naruto's eyes seemed to be constantly drawn in her direction, though the occasional puzzled look on his face showed he didn't have half a clue why he kept looking at her. Neither of them were obvious about it, but it was there to see for anyone paying attention. Hinata seemed aware of that fact, and she blushed beet red when she caught the amused gaze of this stranger sitting at the table with them. At least one other person at that table noticed it too; if the slightly concerned look that crossed the features of Hyuuga Neji's normally empty expression said anything.

No one mentioned Daisuke, though it was obvious by the sideways glances he was receiving that all were curious. Even Akamaru gave him a glance, actually, a sniff, before laying back down at Kiba's feet. He was content to let them stay curious, and so made no action or gesture to draw any real attention to himself. No action, that is, until an annoying buzzing sound made him look up.

A fly. A simple housefly. Ugly, black, and irritating as it buzzed around their heads. It didn't take long for the rest of the tables occupants to finally take notice of the nuisance. One of the curses of being a shinobi was the resulting heightening of senses that constant exposure to danger brought. To them, the buzzing of a fly, at a time and place like this, was like nails on a chalkboard. Each one at the table shifted slightly, almost unnoticeably.

In the same instant, seven arms exploded into motion. Seven arms whipped out, from one angle or another, launching a weapon at the fly. The only ones who threw nothing were Lee, because he didn't really use weapons, and Shino, because he wouldn't kill a bug. Four kunai and two shurikens met and connected with each other, repelling each back to it's owner.

"So who got it?" came the predictable question, voiced by old man Ichiraku as he brought everyone their orders. Everyone looked at Tenten, the weapons master, and the one they all expected to get the target, but when she came up empty they each checked the points of their weapons. When each came up clean, they checked the table for pieces of the insect that had to have been caught. They found none.

After letting them puzzle it out for a moment, Daisuke, who had relaxed back into his chair again raised his hand, then raised one finger. After holding it up to get everyone's attention, he bent his hand at the wrist and pointed to the wall behind Sakura. There was the fly, or what was left of it, pinned to the wall by a blue steel senbon.

They each looked at the fly, then looked at him, then looked back at the fly. Finally, it was Tenten who raised her voice first, a hint of irritated curiosity coloring her tone, "Who the hell are you?"

"Yes, who are you?" this was voiced calmly by Neji, his blank white eyes betraying nothing, "The only ones I know who are more accurate than Tenten are all jounin."

"Hey, he wasn't more accurate than me," Tenten snapped, before sullenly grumbling, "He was just a little quicker. I would have got it."

Daisuke sat up, turning his head slightly to work a crick out of his neck. When Sakura opened her mouth to say something, he shook his head slightly and smiled, conveying the message, 'you aren't responsible for me, I'll handle this in my own way.' He was trying to figure out how to phrase it best so that he wouldn't be interrupted when he felt a sudden shift in the air and turned to look back over his shoulder. He wasn't the only one to notice the shift either, as all head turned in the same direction, even Naruto. Less than a heartbeat later there was a puff of smoke, which cleared to reveal the Jounin-sensei for each of the teams represented here, as well as the Godaime and the Frog Hermit.

"Yo," came the typically understated greeting, voiced by both Jiraiya and Kakashi at the same time. They looked at each other, but before anything could be said they were interrupted by the sudden but predictable outburst from Gai's favorite pupil.

"GAI-SENSEI,"

"LEE,"

"GAI-SENSEI,"

"Would you two shut up?" this came from Tsunade, who was rubbing one temple, "We're here for a reason. I still have a lot of paperwork to do tonight."

"Meaning she still has a lot of sake left in the bottle on her desk, and Shizune still has a lot of paperwork to do," this was said in a stage whisper by Naruto, who gave his best foxy grin in answer to Tsunade's deathglare.

Daisuke slid to his feet, snagging a bottle of water, "Well, I'll take my leave. If you have business, it's with them. I'm on leave."

He was about to walk away when the air around him seemed to shift and shimmer before hardening into a wall. Or so it seemed. "If you wanted my attention that bad, all you had to do was ask," he said as he dispelled the genjutsu with a burst of chakra, then turned around, facing the group again, "Good to know you still got it, Kurenai-sempai."

The beautiful dark haired woman standing beside Tsunade smiled warmly, letting her hands drop from the sign she had formed, "I didn't expect such a smooth counter to my genjutsu. You have improved a lot since the Jounin exam, Daisuke-kun."

He shrugged, but before he could say anything, the sound of someone loudly clearing their throat drew everyone's attention to the Godaime. Seeing that she now had everyone's eyes and ears, she spoke, "I'm sorry to interrupt your meals, but I believed you would want to be informed in time to prepare, instead of at the last second like some would have." She glanced sideways at Jiraiya and Kakashi, neither of whom had the decency to even flinch.

"It has been brought to my attention, by each of your Jounin-sensei, and it is something I have noticed in the training of my student," she glanced at Sakura, "that, since the initial chuunin exam you took part in and the time period directly after, none of you have operated with anyone other than your own teams, with the notable exception of Shino, who has been on several missions with other members of his family."

"As a result, it has been decided that you will all be participating in a joint exercise tomorrow. Because of the potential risk involved, this exercise has been given a class B mission ranking, and you will be paid accordingly. As such, it will be expected that you hold nothing back. The only thing I would like to see is good teamwork, and no fatalities."

Everyone took a minute to absorb the information, before one of them finally spoke up. Not surprisingly, it was Daisuke, who still hadn't been informed as to how he fit in with this whole thing. He wasn't part of the rookie teams, "Alright, so why am I still here?"

Tsunade looked at him, "Shino is going on another mission with his father, and we need another person to even the two teams out. We also need another Jounin to off set the rank difference in the two teams. Needless to say, you will actually be fighting each other. Setting the teams up against two teams of ANBU was considered, but we believed this to be a better way of judging everyone's abilities."

"Also, as I was reviewing your file, I found something interesting. After that unfortunate incident, you didn't join another team. You had already reached chuunin, and took solo missions for the prerequisite year, then made jounin. Even with the team you were assigned to when you were part of ANBU, you worked with them in various forms of support situations. After that, the Third gave you a long term solo assignment due to what he phrased as 'an unwillingness………"

"Enough, I get your point," he snarled softly, his voice almost animal in its roughness. He hadn't been giving off any kind of feeling before Tsunade had spoken her last sentence, but he was now radiating killing intent. The force of his emotions was so strong that even the jounins looked at him warily. All of the younger generation shuddered, images of death floating through their thoughts. His ice blue eyes had shifted to the color of gas flame, "If I remember that section of my file correctly, it said, 'Shows an unwillingness to allow anyone close when assigned to a team, the possible result of the events stated in appendix III.' Is that about it?"

Tsunade tried to appear unfazed, but she had never felt such a strong reaction to something like this in anyone, not survivors of the worst battles of the last Great Secret War, not even survivors of the Kyuubi attack 15 years prior. Feeling such a powerful sense of the willingness and eagerness to kill coming off of one so young was astonishing to say the least, though she had felt similar displays before, just not from anyone she would normally consider an ally. "Yes, that is exactly what it said. Needless to say, I would like to see you develop that area of your expertise. You are probably one of the best solo operating shinobi in all of konoha, but for all intents and purposes, your advanced teamwork experience is non existent. True, in the jounin exam, you show the ability, but you have never truly used it."

"Why now? I'm supposed to be on leave, you even said so yourself this morning. Damnit, I've been gone for three years. The longer the assignment, the longer the leave period, and 24 hours sure as FUCK doesn't qualify as enough time."

"I'm sorry, but with Konoha still so far under strength, I have to at least know what the capabilities of all of my shinobi are, even if you aren't currently active. You will go back on leave status as soon as the exercise is over, unless you choose otherwise. But I need to know, and I need another team leader tomorrow. This isn't a request, Haruno, this is an order."

Daisuke sighed, straightening. He had calmed considerably as they talked, and though he didn't like it, he realized that what she said made sense, "The proper allocation of available resources. Alright, fine. Where and when?"

"Tomorrow morning at 0900, the Forest of Death," Tsunade responded, secretly relieved that she no longer had to argue with him. Dealing with Naruto was going to be difficult enough when she started assigning missions again. Arguing made her tired, made her want to hit things. She could feel that itching in her knuckles, the urge to feel something crumble to dust beneath her hand. It was actually a good feeling, it reminder her of her own abilities at times when she felt old.

He nodded, his eyes shifting to her right hand, the fingers of which had been flexing unconsciously for the last minute, "I'll be there. Now, if there isn't anything else, I am going to drown the memory of you ruining my day. I'll be there, bright and early and stone cold sober, but if anyone interrupts me while I'm doing what I am doing tonight, I am not responsible for my actions."

He was walking away, and everything seemed fine, until a certain overly moral someone had to open their mouth. "One of such youth and strength should not overindulge in alcohol," proclaimed Gai loudly, "it will dampen the flames of your youth."

Everyone held their breath for a moment as Daisuke stopped and looked back over his shoulder, "Gai, you haven't changed even slightly in four years have you? Just shut the fuck up. When I want your opinion on my habits, I'll either ask or beat it out of you. I know for a fact that you used to do the same thing. In fact, I had to help Asuma break you and Kakashi apart after you both had too much and got into some argument the night before I left. Something about the power of youth and your supposedly eternal rivalry" He turned and continued to walk away, though he was heard to mutter, "Besides, I only drink when I've killed too many people in too short a time. I just don't want to remember those eyes." He disappeared in a flash, his body seeming to melt into thin air, leaving no trace but a swirl of dust pulled up into the vacuum left by his passing.

TBC

Read, review, flame. Do something.


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